So if you run out of batteries, will the motor cut off, and allow you to hover back down like real helis?

Thats called autorotation, taking advantage of the inertia in the rotor or speeding it up with negative pitch and then using the energy for lift just before landing to hopefully land safe w/o power.

The VNR3D cant do that. It has a motor driven tail and if the power is off to the main motor the gyro will not compensate for the free spinning main rotor. If the tail was driven by a shaft or belt and we used a seperate gyro you could "AUTO" the model to the ground.

If you run the battery down low the mdel will only have enough power to hover a couple inches off of the ground. Any longer and the radio cuts out on purpose due to signal loss.
You will have plenty of time to notice the power is low and its time to land. The BL system will cut off at 70% of the voltage the pack plugs in at.

Man I can't wait to get my parts in so I can get to flying again and maybe contribute something useful to this thread. It's pure hell seeing my sad broken heli sitting there and reading all this and not being able to fly. I'm living vicariously through you guys.

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The VNR3D cant do that. It has a motor driven tail and if the power is off to the main motor the gyro will not compensate for the free spinning main rotor. If the tail was driven by a shaft or belt and we used a seperate gyro you could "AUTO" the model to the ground.
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Chris

You don't need a shaft/belt driven tail to autorotate.

If the main motor is off, then there's no main rotor torque, and the heli will not spin about the main shaft.

The only thing you need is a one-way bearing on the main gear to allow the main rotor to rotate independently of the motor and a collective pitch head with some negative pitch.

I think you are confusing your "C"s. The 15C rating on the battery is the max discharge rate: 1200 mAh * 15C = 18A discharge rate.

The 1-14C rating on the charger means it can charge one to fourteen cells in a pack. But that Pinnacle is a NiCd / NiMH charger only! Make sure the one you pick does lipos!!! I have the Multiplex LN-5014 which is very similar to kbooth's pick. It's a great charger at a very good price.

I'm still pretty new to lipo's myself, so someone jump in if I've got my wires crossed!